Organics recycling at the markets

Sydney Markets receives an impressive amount of produce from approximately 20,000 growers Australia-wide, and the wholesale operation supplies fresh fruit and vegetables to over two-thirds of the Australian population.

Over the last 10 years, Sydney Markets has been more effectively and efficiently managing its waste streams, increasing the amount of waste saved from landfill from 17% to 65%. This has contributed to a recovery of 100,000 tonnes of waste, with an estimated saving of $18 million.*

The markets have been working with Veolia since 2005 to collect and transport waste streams with the aim of diverting the majority of the organic waste produced.

Veolia has achieved these results with Sydney Markets through the markets’ Green Point Facility, where waste is delivered to be sorted, separated and diverted into eight waste streams including organic, cardboard/paper, timber, steel, plastic, polystyrene, steel and concrete.

Bradley Latham, chief executive officer, Sydney Markets, says over six bins of organics are now recovered each day. This amount is seasonal — for example, during the wine season he says around two tonnes of wine grape waste are produced.

In total, around 5000 tonnes of organic waste are now diverted from landfill every year and processed by EarthPower Technologies using anaerobic digestion technology. “We are allowed to have one layer of plastics, but it must be 95% pure organics for the EarthPower facility,” said Latham.

David Clark, EarthPower general manager, says the site was about 10 years ahead of its time when it was built back in 2003. In 2007, Veolia and Cleanaway (formerly Transpacific) acquired EarthPower Technologies in a joint venture. Since this joint venture, and now with increased landfill tariffs in NSW, Clark says the facility has improved its operation and is now a success.

Claimed to be Australia’s first regional food waste-to-energy facility located in Sydney’s west, the EarthPower site process uses bacteria to convert solid and liquid organic wastes into a biogas and a sludge that is dried to produce a high-nutrient organic fertiliser. Sydney Markets’ organic and general residual waste generates 1800 MWh of electricity.

Organics ready for processing at the EarthPower site.

In addition to organics, Sydney Markets also recycles cardboard and paper materials and recovers polystyrene. Con Kapellos, Sydney Markets environment manager, says around 50 polystyrene boxes can be processed into 15 kg of ingot, which is then re-used for high-value building products. Timber pallets are also a growing waste stream, with 70% re-used and 30% recycled into garden mulch and poultry bedding.

Sydney Markets has set the lofty goal of becoming the greenest market in Australia. It has already achieved many awards that validate its efforts to create more sustainable operations with cooperation from its tenants, employees and partners.

*These figures take into consideration the partnership between Veolia and other Sydney Markets waste stream contributors.

Top picture: Bradley Latham, chief executive officer, Sydney Markets.